Crom Laughs At Your Four Winds

Already the California recall war is drawing mud: The SF Chronicle discovers a third auto theft charge against Rep. Darrel Issa, and gives it Page One, Top Left treatment. Take a look at the Chron front page here.

Note that the Issa story abuts a generally positive review of Arnold Schwarzenegger's appearance with "controversial radio personality" Howard Stern—personally, I've heard more interesting dialogues out of Arnold.

As for the Issa story, it is news, technically: This particular charge hasn't been made public before, and the story allows the charitable interpretation that Issa may have been covering for his brother (who certainly sounds like an incorrigible car thief) rather than pulling off a heist himself. You can make what you like about the way Issa stands up and takes responsibility in other areas:

Issa said he never tried to conceal his San Jose arrest. He said his campaign managers had advised him not to discuss it unless he was asked about it.

The Cleveland arrest "came out in the first election, and I asked my own people, 'Should we tell them about the other one?' " Issa said. "They said, 'No, they'll bring it out.' "

Still, the continuing character assassination of Issa is dismaying, though expected. He gets tagged as a car thief. He gets tagged as pro-terrorist. I am not accusing the Chron of taking a stand against Issa. But Gray Davis is the kind of rat who thrives in this kind of environment. I prefer my politics dull and far away. This free-for-all is enough to make me break out my fan and start fanning myself frantically, lest I swoon.